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Sunday, 21 May 2017

Egypt's public prosecutor says 48 suspected members of so-called Islamic State (IS) have been referred to a military court in connection with three bombings of Coptic churches.

Thirty-one of the suspects are in custody while the others are still at large.

More than 70 people died in suicide attacks against churches in Cairo in December and in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria in April.

IS said it carried out the bombings.

In a statement on Sunday, public prosecutor Nabil Sadek said some of the suspects were leaders within IS and had formed cells in Cairo and the southern province of Qena to carry out the church attacks.

He said the militants were also responsible for killing eight police officers at a checkpoint in Egypt's Western Desert in January.